Per A.R.S. §38-431.02, all notices of the public meetings for the Arizona Department of Education can be accessed by clicking the link below. Notices will also be posted outside the State Board of Education Meeting Room on the first floor at 1535 West Jefferson Street, Phoenix, Arizona 85007, which is open to the public between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday except legal holidays. Such notices will indicate the date, time, and place of the meeting and will include an agenda.

“I am thrilled to share this updated version of my AZ Kids Can’t Wait! plan with Arizonans,” said Superintendent Douglas. “The plan represents how the people of Arizona believe we can make our schools the best in the nation, and I am very proud of everyone who came together to make the plan a reality.”

Based on feedback gathered during the Superintendent’s 2016 We Are Listening Tour, the 2017 plan includes new proposals, accomplishments from last year’s plan and progress updates for several ongoing initiatives. Because the focus of this year’s Listening Tour was #ParentsMustBeHeard, the Superintendent has also provided an executive summary of the plan that is designed to give parents a quick look at the proposals that are most likely to be of interest to them.

Highlighting the new proposals are several funding requests, which range from additional base funding for schools to use as they see fit to teacher salary increases and additional support for rural schools and capital needs. Funding was still the most common topic on the minds of those who attended the We Are Listening Tour or shared their feedback in other ways.

“It seems to me that as leaders in education we must ask ourselves, do we want Arizona to have the best education system in the world or simply the cheapest system we can get by with politically?” said the Superintendent. “For me, the answer is simple―I want the best for our students and I will partner with education stakeholders, Governor Ducey, and the Legislature to make that vision a reality.”